The seaside town of Nahariya, located a few kilometers from the Lebanese border, has been targeted by rockets in recent days and fears a large-scale offensive by the Islamist group.
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Since the Hamas attack on October 7, Hezbollah has opened a new front in northern Israel, launching rockets into Israeli territory every day. A few kilometers from Hezbollah, the seaside city of Nahariya is one of the cities that the Hebrew state is trying to develop by attracting new arrivals. Last week, a drone attack there left one dead and 17 injured. Between resilience and resistance, the city, targeted again by rockets on the night of Monday, August 12, is preparing for a major attack.
A few bathers and a surfer are in the water, while fishermen and a man are on the pier, facing the sea. His name is Arié and he works for the Nahariya town hall, welcoming French speakers: “If we look south, the big mountain there is Haifa. A completely strategic city that will be the first to be targeted by Hezbollah because that is where we have the military port, refineries, power plants and weapons factories, he assures. If we turn around and go north, there we also see a mountain. The Lebanese border is 9 km away. When Hezbollah wants to, they can come up and shoot at us, which is what happens regularly.”
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Last week, a drone strike on the city killed one person and wounded 17 others. Here, people remember the commando that came by sea in 1979, which killed four people, including two children. The 2006 war and its rain of missiles is fresh in the memories, as is the fear similar land infiltrations to Gaza. With its beaches and tax advantages, due to its proximity to Lebanon, the city continues to attract foreigners who come to make aliyah, immigration to Israel.
New arrivals who need to be reassured. On the beach, concrete cubes have been installed, “migouniot”shelters in case of attack. “There, we enter a kind of mini concrete labyrinth, it is very hot, there is no air, we are suffocating, but we must stay there for 10 minutes in the event of an alert, at least,” explains Arié, responsible for welcoming French speakers at the Nahariya city hall. In the aftermath of the Hamas attack on October 7, the municipality financed the construction and renovation of all public and private shelters, both collective and individual.
“We put water, something to eat, enough to last three days, a week, in case of a power cut, water cut, or even in case of an attack…”
Arié, employee at the Nahariya town hallto franceinfo
In the town hall square, in the shade of a parasol, Arie Shosky arrived from Paris just after the Second Lebanon War in 2006. “I have a shelter with a toilet, a fridge, two beds. I go down when there are really several sirens in a row,” describes the old man, fatalistic and yet smiling. If Hezbollah launches the massive attack it promises on Israel, Arie knows: Nahriya will not be evacuated by the army. In the meantime, its 75,000 inhabitants are making the conscious choice to stay.
In Israel, on the Lebanese border, the city of Nahariya prepares for a massive attack – Report by Claude Guibal